


Undercover Blues

by PiscesDragon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Dubious Morality, Is it really wrong if he's actually legal but Shiro doesn't know that?, M/M, Police, References to Drugs, Teacher Shiro (Voltron), Teacher-Student Relationship, Temptation, Torturing antis one fic at a time, Undercover Missions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22027837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PiscesDragon/pseuds/PiscesDragon
Summary: Taking an undercover assignment at a nearby high school was challenging enough, but when Keith walks into class and sees Mr. Shirogane, things suddenly get a lot more difficult. While Keith tries to bust a drug ring and fight his crush on a man who believes he’s a teenager, Shiro struggles with an existential crisis over his developing interest in the new student.
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith & Thace & Ulaz (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 86





	Undercover Blues

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually one of the first long fics I started, and since it's almost the end of the year - and I've been sitting on this completed chapter since the beginning of May! - I figured it was time to throw it out here.
> 
> If you follow me at all, you know I love exploring difficult feelings/topics and the idea of taking fandom discourse and pushing the envelope - and boy, this one is going to push. It's as close to a teacher/student, lolita-esque fic as I am comfortable writing. Hence, there's no underage tag because no one is.
> 
> BUT Shiro doesn't know that, so if that squicks you out (no judgement) exit now and don't say you weren't warned.

Keith drug himself into his first period homeroom, short on caffeine and wondering how the hell he’d gotten talked into this assignment. 

High school had been a hellscape the first time he’d done it. Hiding in the closet only to have the guy he had been secretly seeing for most of junior year out him to the entire school when they broke up hadn’t been the best experience. It had also turned his senior year into a struggle for physical survival in the backwards little town in Texas where he’d lived.

Kolivan had come with him to fill out his paperwork in the school office, clapping him on the shoulder and leaving him with a “good luck” and a wry smirk. His “dad” was a real asshole for talking him into this – but at least being pissed off at his supposed parent already gave him something in common with the teenagers he was surrounded by.

_“You could do it, Keith,” Kolivan said as they sat around the precinct meeting, drinking crappy coffee and pretending to be interested._

_He’d just finished explaining how the station a few towns over was in desperate need of help with an undercover sting operation. Keith hadn’t been really listening_ _–_ _something about kids and a drug ring._

_“I can do what now?” Keith asked, suddenly concerned when he heard his name._

_“Go undercover at the high school,” Kolivan said, unamused at having to repeat himself. “Pose as a user. Sniff out who’s behind the whole thing.”_

_“Yeah Keith,” Lance piped in, “You look like you don’t even shave yet. That baby face can finally come in handy.”_

_Keith threw his partner a sharp look, wishing he had the ability to throw knives with his brain. He looked at Kolivan. “You’re kidding, right?”_

_“Nope. They’re really desperate and they can’t use anyone on their own staff. They’ve already asked around to a bunch of other precincts and nobody has anyone on staff that would be able to blend in with the high school crowd. You can handle this, Kit.”_

_Oh, great, Keith thought. He’s pulling out the nickname to warm him up. Kolivan must really want this for some reason._

_“What’s in it for me?” asked Keith, rubbing his thumb along his jaw nervously. When it came down to it, Kolivan was his boss and he couldn’t tell him no. Well, he COULD since technically the horribly shitty assignment fell outside of his regular work, but Keith’s history with Kolivan made it even less likely that he would put up a fuss. He owed Kolivan his life when it came right down to it – and he would do just about anything the man asked of him in return._

_“An extra two weeks vacation?” Kolivan suggested. “I can’t give you more money since you’d be doing it off book for another station.”_

_“Two weeks??” Lance screeched, throwing himself forward in his chair and raising his hand. “I volunteer as tribute!”_

_Kolivan laughed. “Lance, first of all, you look your age. You’d fit in on a TV teen drama, but not in a real life high school. Second of all, you’re a crap actor.” Lance scoffed, clearly offended._

_Thace_ _chimed in from the corner with a laugh, “Mr. Goody Two Shoes? There’s no way he could pretend to be a ‘troubled teen’!”_

_Chuckles erupted around the room. Everyone who knew Lance was well aware he was a rule follower._

_“Oh, really?” Lance huffed. “And Keith can pull off being a ‘bad boy’?”_

_Kolivan looked at Keith, a silent discussion happening between them. “He can. He’s got experience.”_

_“What?” asked Lance. “I feel like I’m missing something here.”_

_“You miss a lot of things, Lance,”_ _Ulaz_ _said as he took a bite of his donut._ _Ulaz_ _had been at the station the longest, and he’d been friends with Kolivan for most of it. Keith was thankful the man was loyal and wouldn’t betray any details of his past to his loudmouth gossip of a partner._

_“Don’t worry about it,” Keith said, giving Lance a look to drop it. He ran his hand through his hair, pulling at the ends. “Fuck, Kolivan. Are you really going to make me do this?”_

_“_ _C’mon_ _, Kit,” Kolivan replied. “There are kids getting hurt with this stuff. A couple of them almost died. If they don’t figure out who’s behind it and deal with them, it’s only a matter of time before they branch out to other places. We don’t need deadly drugs on our streets.”_

_“We’ve got enough to deal with,”_ _Thace_ _said, backing him up._

Kiss ass _, thought Keith._ _Thace_ _was always ready to chime in and back up Kolivan – especially when it wasn’t HIM going into the crosshairs._

_Keith crossed his arms and gave Kolivan the dirtiest look he could get away with. “FINE. I’ll do it.”_

_“Ha_ _ha_ _! Our little Keith is going back to school,” taunted Lance. Keith leaned over and punched him in the arm, giving him a bruise he’d bitch about for the rest of the week._

Still cursing Kolivan in his head, Keith checked the schedule he’d been handed by the secretary in the main office and then glanced at his watch. Looks like he’s already missed the homeroom period with somebody called “Shirogane”. Keith hoped he wouldn’t have to pronounce the name to anyone because he was sure he was going to butcher it. Luckily, his first period math class looked like it was taught by a teacher named Holt, so he flagged down a passing student and asked how to get to that classroom.

Channeling his 15-year-old self who thought he was tough as nails, Keith sauntered into the class that had already started. First rule of high school: Show no weakness. 

In the hormonal jungle of undeveloped self-identity, they eat their own.

Mr. Holt looked like the stock photo for a math teacher - pale, average height, brown hair, glasses, and a tan blazer. The only thing missing was the pocket protector. Keith chuckled to himself wondering if the poor guy had ever gotten laid in his life.

The teacher paused in his instruction when he’d walked into the room, so Keith stopped near him to hand over his pass from the office.

“New student?” Mr. Holt asked, looking him over like he could ascertain Keith’s worth with a glance.

“Yeah.”

“Take a seat. I’ll find you a book in a second.”

Keith turned to see a field of eyes staring at him - most with interest and curiosity, a few with disdain. A couple of the girls smiled at him and flushed as he made eye contact on his way to the empty seat at the back of the room.

Jesus, this was going to be hellacious. The vacation time was probably not worth it.

As he sat down, the guy next to him gave him a bright smile. He had long, white hair and squinty blue eyes.

_Great_ , Keith thought. _I get to sit next to Draco Malfoy this semester_.

He reminded himself he was here to save lives (or some shit) and tried to focus on what the teacher was saying for the rest of the class period.

When the bell rang what seemed like hours later, Keith was as eager as the rest of his new “peers” to escape. Math had never really been his thing, and since he wasn’t there for a diploma, he only planned on putting in enough work to skate by unnoticed.

“So,” the kid with the bleached hair said to Keith as they left the classroom. “Where are you from?”

Keith somehow kept himself from rolling his eyes and gave the guy a half smile that he hoped came across as friendly enough. “Texas.”

“Really? Well, welcome to Garrison,” white-hair said. He had a strange accent that Keith thought might be British. Either that, or he worked really hard at sounding haughty. “I’m Lotor.”

“Keith.”

“What’s your next class? Do you know where you’re going?” Lotor was being very friendly, which raised Keith’s hackles at once. Something about this kid was creepy, but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

“I’m headed to English with…” he glanced down at his schedule. “Montgomery?”

“Oh, I’ve got Civics,” Lotor said with a disappointed look. “But Montgomery’s room is just down that hallway.”

He pointed at an offshoot to the right.

“K - thanks,” Keith told him. “See ya.”

He took off toward his next class before the guy could respond. He hadn’t thought about how much of this assignment was going to involve social interaction with high school students.

He hoped he’d be able to work the crowd quickly and pin down a lead on the information he needed to get his investigation started.

*****

Following the crowd after lunch, Keith left the cafeteria already eager to get the entire day over with. 

This assignment sucked BALLS.

He knew how to do emo and moody – truth be told he’d never completely grown out of those traits and if Lance’s complaints were anything to go by, they were permanent fixtures of his personality. His eternal scowl (over the job and his life in general) worked wonderfully for intimidating any students that dared come his way. This was good from the standpoint of avoiding the teenagers, but he knew he was going to have to figure out a way to ingratiate himself with _someone_ on campus in order to figure out which social groups were the drug users.

Keith double checked his schedule. There was that “Shirogane” name again. It looked like he’d be seeing this teacher twice a day. Apparently the guy taught physics. That should be interesting. It was one of the subjects Keith had actually kind of enjoyed during high school. As much as he had barely eeked through school the first time, he thought it may have been one of the few classes he’d gotten an A in.

He spotted a teacher standing in the hall and asked for directions to the room. It was only a few doors down, and he jogged through the hall trying to avoid the late bell. He knew he would probably have to start acting out a little to get in with the “right” crowd, but Keith figured he didn’t need to start getting into trouble on day one.

He walked into the room and noted what must be the teacher with his back turned at the front of the room, writing on the whiteboard. Keith glanced around, finding the only empty chair (of course!) right in the front of the room. Slipping into the seat quietly, his attention was drawn to the back of the man in front of him.

The most obvious thing from the start was that he was built like a damn brick wall. Huge shoulders filled out the white dress shirt, and Keith could see the muscles of his arms stretching the fabric as he wrote on the board. He had the sleeve of his shirt rolled up on his toned forearm. Keith wondered if the guy spent every extra minute outside of school at the gym.

He heard the bell ring and watched as the teacher finally put down the marker and turned around to the class.

Keith damn near fell out of his chair. _Ho... ly..._ _Fuuuck_ , he thought _. As in_ _–_ _yes, please._

He was sure the temperature in the room had just jumped up at least twenty degrees as he tried unsuccessfully to tear his eyes away and stop staring.

Teachers weren’t supposed to look like this.

They sure as hell didn’t where Keith came from.

The man’s chest was a wall of muscle stretched underneath the white button-up over crisp black pants. He had a face to go along with the sculpted body – high cheekbones, a fine square jaw, and almond-shaped eyes that were staring kindly at him. The godlike structure was topped off with a head of bright white hair Keith thought must have been dyed, because he otherwise looked too young to have hair that color.

On anyone else it may have looked out of place, but it worked for him. Even the scar slashed across the bridge of the man’s nose somehow made him look even more attractive. How was that even possible?

His goddamn teenage wet dream – and adult one for that matter – was teaching the physics class where he was pretending to be a student.

There couldn’t possibly be a loving God.

“Oh, hello!” the man’s deep voice washed over Keith like silk as he forced himself to make eye contact. “You must be the new student, right? I’m Mr. Shirogane. Are you Keith? Keith Kogane?”

The teacher’s mispronunciation of Keith’s name as “Ko-gah-nay” temporarily snapped him out of his lust-induced haze. 

“It’s Ko-GAY-ne,” he corrected.

An embarrassed rosy tint came onto the teacher’s cheeks. “Sorry. Kogane. Got it. I thought maybe it might be an Asian name, like mine. Well, welcome!”

Mr. Shirogane’s right hand tapped on a textbook in front of him, and Keith noticed it wasn’t flesh but made of some kind of matte metal. In fairness, he’d been too thoroughly distracted by every inch of the rest of him to pick up on something as boring as a metal arm. He picked up the book and came around the front table to hand it to Keith. “Here’s our textbook. It’s mid-year, but we just finished a chapter and a test, so you’ll be able to just start fresh with us at this point.”

Keith nodded, not trusting his voice to respond without squeaking. 

Suddenly, reverting back to his younger years felt a whole lot easier. He was completely uncomfortable, out of his element, and horny.

Achievement unlocked: Teenage mode.

As Mr. Shirogane turned to move back to the front of the room, Keith couldn’t keep himself from checking out the ass that so nicely stretched out the teacher’s black chinos and looked _so_ incredibly grabbable.

How in the _hell_ was he possibly going to survive this assignment now?

*****

“Shiro’s a lot to take, isn’t he?” a friendly voice said beside Keith as he hurried out of the classroom. He looked over – then looked down to see a short person with light brown hair falling into step beside him.

“I’m sorry?” he answered.

“Mr. Shirogane. Usually it’s the freshman girls freaking out over him. Sorry, I was sitting across the aisle from you and the gay panic was written all over your face,” she (he?) replied bluntly, gesturing a free hand up and down toward him.

“Oh, God,” Keith moaned. “Seriously? Please, please don’t say anything to anyone.”

He couldn’t believe he’d been so obviously drooling over the physics teacher he’d outed himself to a stranger on the first day of school. He was suddenly extremely scared of the reception he’d get if people knew about his preferences. In his actual life, Keith didn’t give a shit what anyone thought of him. He’d never had a problem accepting himself – it was other people that tended to have the issue. So Keith had learned to take care of himself. 

He’d come a long way since his first stint in high school, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to just let teenagers beat the hell out of him. Yet as a grown man he didn’t think getting into a physical altercation with a student was going to be alright, even if they thought he was a student, too. He’d been hoping to avoid the issue altogether.

“Hey, no judgement,” the person said with a shrug. “But just so you know, people are pretty OK about that kind of thing here. There might be a few younger students still figuring themselves out, but all the seniors are cool with who they are. Nobody’s had any problems – in fact, most of the ‘popular’ crowd is also part of the Pride Club.”

“Really?” That was so far from his previous high school experience he wanted to laugh out loud.

“Yeah. I’m Pidge, by the way. Girl, she, asexual, totally not hitting on you.”

“O… k,” Keith responded. He appreciated her straightforward approach, but he had no idea what to do with it.

“If you really knew Shiro, you’d never go for him,” Pidge said. “He’s a major geek. No offense, you just don’t seem the type.”

Keith decided to let that ball drop for now, but he picked up on something else. Because suddenly he was extremely interested in everything related to his new teacher. “Why do you keep calling him Shiro?”

“Oh, he’s best friends with my brother,” she explained. “I’ve known him for years before he was my teacher.”

“That’s got to be weird,” said Keith as they rounded a corner.

“A little. But at least he knows better than to give me any crap.”

“Where do you go next? I’m headed to gym,” Keith asked. It seemed like as good a time as any to start meeting people, and at least with Pidge he didn’t have to make the first awkward move.

“Me too,” Pidge said. “You’ll like Mr. Garrett – he teaches PE. He’s cool.”

*****

The one saving grace of his schedule for the foreseeable future was Keith had Art at the end of the day. Kolivan knew that he liked to draw sometimes to relax, and he must have made sure this was on his schedule. Probably to keep Keith from losing his goddamn mind, but he appreciated the effort nonetheless.

The instructor was an older man with orange-red hair and a wild mustache. He was extremely… flamboyant. Mr. Wimbleton-Smythe, or Coran as he insisted the students call him, spoke with what Keith thought might be an Australian accent and was insistent that the students “follow their bliss” in his class. That theory in action meant students seemed to be doing whatever the hell they wanted for the entire hour, so long as they were creating _something_.

Students were spread out around the large space, some working on collages, some on sculpture, and a handful sketching at tables like Keith.

Toward the end of the class period, Keith looked up from his mindless drawing of a muscular arm and shoulder to see a very large girl in a whispered conversation with someone painting at an easel near his table. He wasn’t close enough to hear their conversation, but he watched as the smaller girl nodded and fished money out of her pants pocket. The large girl seemed to slip her something small, and it was quickly put out of sight.

The larger girl glanced over at Keith, seeing him watching. She smirked at him with the look of a predator about to play with its food.

“Need something, puppy?” she asked, smiling with too many teeth.

Keith gave her a blank stare in return and said dryly, “I’m good.”

He turned back to his drawing, glad he may have gotten a lead on the first day. The large girl didn’t seem to get the hint to leave him alone, moving to stand behind him and peering over his shoulder.

“What-ya workin’ on?” she asked as her shadow fell over his workspace.

“Anatomy practice.”

“Zethrid, leave him alone,” the other girl said, making the most obviously uninterested attempt to intervene possible.

“Aww, but he looks like a little puppy with this hair!” Zethrid said, proceeding to ruffle Keith’s hair with her large hand.

At that, he stood up quickly, his chair squeaking in the quiet of the room, and turned to look up at her with steel in his spine. She was an Amazon of a teenage girl, but he wasn’t about to take her shit - especially not on his first day.

“Don’t. Touch. Me,” Keith said quietly in the voice he generally used when he was holding a gun on someone in the process of committing a crime and getting ready to shoot them.

Zethrid got the hint and backed up a few steps with a wry smile. “Aw, puppy. It don’t gotta be like that.”

“Good,” he said, still with a voice that could sever steel, and staring her down for another second before moving to go back to his chair. He picked up his pencil to resume his drawing, giving her an out to let it go.

Luckily, she laughed and moved on, walking over to the sculpting area presumably to bother someone else. If the girl was somehow involved in his assignment, he couldn’t afford to alienate her. Hopefully she would be the first step in tracking down the person behind the ring he was going to bring down.

**Author's Note:**

> This author appreciates comments, questions, and kudos and will respond accordingly! Thank you for reading!


End file.
